# Chapter 50
“I hope I get an easier group this time.”
Iyeon grumbled as he opened the Superpower Management Office app and applied for Jeong-Yeon. In the previous quarter’s Jeong-Yeon, he had encountered two rankers and spent the next day suffering from muscle pain after frantically running away.
“Jeong-Yeon matchups are usually hit or miss, right? This time should be easier. Are you participating this time too, Sano hyung?”
Sano, sitting across from Iyeon, answered indifferently.
“We’ll see.”
Well, the number one ranked person wouldn’t need to undergo a tier reassessment, so it wouldn’t matter much if he didn’t participate.
“This is such a hassle…”
Even though it was a regular event, the annoyance was unavoidable. As Iyeon flopped onto the sofa with a sigh, Hyegang consoled him.
“Come on, you’re doing well. You were in the upper ranks in the last Jeong-Yeon too.”
“That was just luck with the matchups.”
There would be disadvantages to company benefits if the company hunters consistently performed poorly in Jeong-Yeon. For Chageum, which had no hunters besides Iyeon, he had to achieve decent results, so Iyeon did his best in Jeong-Yeon. It helped that he was surprisingly suited to the simulated combat against people rather than mutants.
“That’s what you say.”
Sano’s murmur carried a strange nuance, causing Iyeon’s voice to instinctively shrink from the perceived threat.
“I don’t do anything that impressive…”
“I’ll go watch.”
Ominous premonitions are never wrong. Iyeon’s face crumpled.
Unlike Mugunghwa Tier 4 and above Jeong-Yeon, which were held privately for security reasons—he heard the test format was somewhat different too—for Tier 3 and below, spectating was allowed for those with superpowers. The official purpose was audiovisual education on others’ power application skills, but considering that the absolute majority of spectators were Tier 1 and the Tier 2 exam audience seats were often empty, it was more accurate to view it as a kind of entertainment event.
Even though the system allowed for spectating, a Tier 5 didn’t really need to watch a Tier 2 match, right? Especially Sano, who worked with Iyeon and already knew all about his abilities.
“There’s no need to come watch…”
“I’m curious about how you manage to rank in the upper tier when you struggle with even D-grade mutant missions.”
Sano’s tone suggested that Iyeon might be cheating, so Iyeon, who had been trying to dissuade him, bristled a bit.
“Missions and Jeong-Yeon are different, you know?”
“That’s exactly it.”
Sano scanned Iyeon’s entire body with his eyes. Iyeon flinched at the thorough gaze.
“People have higher intelligence than low-grade mutants.”
“…It’s not really a matter of…”
“Wow, Sano hyung is going to watch? Then I want to go too.”
Taking advantage of Iyeon’s hesitation, Hyegang quickly agreed and stood up. Iyeon couldn’t understand why he suddenly wanted to tag along after acting like he had no interest in Jeong-Yeon his entire life. Iyeon gave Hyegang a disgruntled look.
“Why bother watching too?”
“I’ve only ever seen it on screen. I’m curious about seeing it in person too.”
Not desperate enough to go alone, but wouldn’t it be good to go when there’s an opportunity? I’ll cheer for you too. There was no reason to refuse Hyegang’s rapid-fire words. Hyegang’s eyes sparkled, apparently quite curious despite pretending otherwise.
“Let me know when the matchups are announced. Let’s all go together.”
“Fine…”
Iyeon waved his hand in surrender. Judging by their faces, they wouldn’t listen even if he refused, and he had no way to stop them.
Whatever he did would obviously be nowhere near Je Sano’s standards, so he didn’t even hope for encouragement or praise. He just prayed that the blessing of luck would be with him and that his matchup would be at least decent.
*
About 90,000 people participate in each Jeong-Yeon. Even accounting for the one-versus-many nature of the simulated combat, it was an incredibly large number, making it impossible to finish in just one day. Usually, the process alone took 2-3 weeks, and including the application period, it easily exceeded a month.
The exams were held across various combat zones throughout Chohosi, and they showed their thoroughness by not using all combat zones for the tests in preparation for mutant appearances. The fact that this was faithfully implemented twice a year was enough to feel how seriously Chohosi was committed to training combat superhumans.
Iyeon’s Jeong-Yeon test location was Zone 5. He was in the morning’s second group, running from 10 AM to 11:30 AM. His group name was 248… it was too long, so he forgot the rest.
“Hyung!”
How did he wake up so early when it’s barely past 9? Iyeon glumly watched Hyegang running towards him from far away in front of Zone 5. When they were deciding work hours, Hyegang had insisted that he could never wake up in the morning, so Iyeon should just handle things himself… After years of employment, Iyeon felt like he’d been scammed.
“You managed to wake up…”
“I went to bed early yesterday. I bought Americanos while getting mine, want one?”
“Thanks.”
“Here’s one for Sano hyung too.”
Sano and Iyeon each received a cup of coffee. Hyegang neatly folded the cup carrier and put it in his backpack. It looked like he had brought his laptop too.
Hyegang was wearing his usual tracksuit set, but the color was exceptionally bright. It was impressive how well hot pink suited him—not many people could pull it off so well.
With a soft, delicate pretty boy and a sharp, handsome man in one place, people’s gazes naturally gathered. More and more people glanced over and whispered among themselves. Iyeon could even hear people saying it was like celebrities had come to watch.
Well, the combination of Hyegang and Sano was indeed a line-up so gorgeous that one might mistake them for celebrities. Iyeon, sandwiched between the two, would probably be invisible. Yet I’m the one taking the test… Iyeon felt an unfounded loneliness as he entered Zone 5.
What would normally have been an empty combat zone with just gray asphalt floor now had a large examination building neatly set up. The central testing area was hidden behind high walls, and the corridor from the entrance split into paths leading to spectator seats and waiting rooms. They had used the terrain setting function to create an entire stadium.
“Wow, this is the first time I’m seeing the terrain setting function in person. How did they even make this?”
Looking around and muttering, Hyegang prompted Iyeon to tease him.
“Why, do you want to make one too?”
“No. This is closer to an engineer’s domain than a programmer’s. I don’t know much about that side.”
Hyegang fiddled with the corridor wall as if inspecting it.
“Didn’t they say the developer of this was unofficially Tier 5 level? To think of creating such facilities with such powerful abilities. There are over fifty combat zones in the city too. Unless they were extraordinarily philanthropic…”
Hyegang shook his head. Iyeon agreed with him. Regardless, they must have used an enormous amount of gi-ryeok while creating this. Even for a Tier 5, there were limits, and with this level of gi-ryeok, probably…
“What a carefree thing to say.”
A cold voice interrupted them.
“That guy is nothing but a fugitive.”
Though only his eyebrows had moved slightly closer to his eyes, Sano’s face exuded a much more vicious aura than usual. Of course, there were various rumors about the developer’s disappearance… but it wasn’t an issue that could be viewed negatively alone. Iyeon cautiously cast an opposing vote.
“But he still contributed to the city’s development.”
Sano just rolled his eyes to look at Iyeon. His green eyes were as transparent as glass marbles, making it difficult to discern what emotions they held.
“How can you say such a thing.”
“…Well, um…”
It was terrifying, as if his gaze alone could pierce someone to death. There was no need to get so angry… Feeling the sting of Sano’s gaze, which seemed to view him as someone who had said something preposterous, Iyeon buried his face in his straw and mumbled.
“Why? Do you all know something about the developer? What happened?”
Confused by the sudden confrontational atmosphere, Hyegang asked. Come to think of it, Iyeon had forgotten that Hyegang was only about twenty-two. When the developer disappeared, Hyegang would have been going to school, oblivious to everything.
“Did you know that the terrain setting developer wasn’t originally the combat zone developer?”
“Ah, right. The terrain setting function is a technology that was added relatively recently, isn’t it?”
Hyegang nodded. While the combat zones themselves were designed when Chohosi was established, the terrain setting function had only been added about seven years ago.
A genius who suddenly appeared in Chohosi one day introduced a technology that could turn the world upside down, then disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. His mysterious actions, with unknowable intentions, were enough to attract public interest.
